1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a workflow system in which a computer is used, and, more particularly to a workflow system which performs a process to an application which requires an attached document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a business workflow system which uses a computer, users apply for clearing transportation costs in their business trips and outside jobs. Generally, when a transportation means such as a train, a bus or the like is used in the business trip or the outside job, an accounting process is performed for its transportation costs only by an application on the workflow system. However, when a transportation means such as a taxi, a bullet train (superexpress train) or an airplane is used in the business trip or the outside job, there is a case where it is required in the accounting process to file a receipt concerning the relevant transportation means. Therefore, in the case where it is required to file the receipt, after the user applies for clearing the transportation costs in the conventional business workflow system, he/she pastes up the required receipt on a mounting paper and directly files the pasted receipt.
In this connection, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-279146 discloses a technique which is applicable to a case where an application for clearing a transportation cost is performed in a workflow system. More specifically, in this workflow system, it is automatically determined whether or not the application is an application for which a receipt is required, a mounting paper on which the receipt should be pasted is printed and output when it is determined that the application is the application for which the receipt is required, the receipt is pasted up on the printed mounting paper, and the receipt pasted on the mounting paper is actually filed as a paper document by an applicant. In this technique, a bar code by which an application number concerning the application for clearing the transportation cost can be identified is printed on a dedicated mounting paper to be printed and output. For this reason, in an accounting department to which the mounting paper having the receipt thereon has been filed, it is possible to easily match the application number described on the filed receipt with the previously recorded number by reading the printed bar code by means of a bar code reader.
However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-279146, although the application is electronically accepted by the workflow system, the receipt required for approval is later received directly from the applicant. Therefore, in this technique, such an accounting process is not necessarily sped up and not made efficient despite the workflow system installed.
With respect to the above-described matter, for example, if the receipt is read by a scanner of a multifunction machine, electronic image data indicating the read receipt is generated by a digitizing function of the multifunction machine, and the generated electronic image data is attached to the application to be performed in the workflow system, whereby it is expected to further speed up the process and make the process further efficient.
In this case, the applicant who performs the application for clearing the transportation cost has to perform the operation of digitizing the receipt by the multifunction machine and then attaching the digitized receipt (attachment data) to the application (application data). Here, it is conceivable that the applicant generates the attachment data before or after starting the application in the workflow system. Therefore, it is important to provide a mechanism which can appropriately attach the attachment data to the application data in the workflow system both before and after starting the application.
To make the operation efficient in the application, if it is insufficient only to easily attach the attachment data generated before the application is started to the application data, it is desirable to cause a user to appropriately attach, to the application data, the attachment data obtained by digitizing the image data of the receipt with the multifunction machine after the application is started, without explicitly instructing to which the application data the attachment data should be attached.